Principal investigators, project scientists and researchers who contributed to the design or major discoveries of the TRACKER-1 catalog spacecraft.
Astrophysicist and Nobel co-laureate for the discovery of cosmic acceleration. He leads the SH0ES program, which measures the Hubble constant H₀ using Hubble and JWST.
Johns Hopkins University / STScI
Planetary scientist and first Project Scientist of Mars Express. He defined the scientific objectives of the first European orbiter around Mars.
European Space Agency (ESA)
Planetary scientist and PI of New Horizons. He carried out the first flyby of Pluto (2015) and then of Arrokoth (2019).
Southwest Research Institute
Cosmologist and co-principal investigator of Euclid’s VIS instrument. He specializes in weak cosmological lensing and the measurement of gravitational shear.
ETH Zürich
Planetary scientist and co-leader of the DART mission, which deflected the asteroid Dimorphos in 2022 — the first demonstration of planetary defense.
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Planetary scientist and director of the Physical Research Laboratory. He is a senior scientist of the Chandrayaan missions and a major contributor to India’s lunar science strategy.
Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad
Planetary scientist and Project Scientist of the Curiosity rover since 2014. He leads the exploration of Gale crater and the ascent of Mount Sharp.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Heliophysicist and Principal Investigator of IRIS, observing the solar chromosphere to understand coronal heating.
Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory
Astrophysicist and Senior Scientist at the Chandra center. She contributes to the scientific leadership and dissemination of discoveries from the X-ray observatory.
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Astrophysicist and Project Scientist of SOHO since 2000. He leads the seismological and magnetic monitoring of the Sun from the L1 Lagrange point.
European Space Agency (ESA)
Planetary scientist and Deputy Project Scientist of Europa Clipper. She specializes in icy surfaces and the composition of the Galilean moons.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Astrophysicist and Project Scientist of the Swift mission, dedicated to hunting gamma-ray bursts and transients.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Astronomer and major contributor to the Voyager missions. He originated the Golden Record and the "Pale Blue Dot" photograph.
Cornell
Physicist and Nobel co-laureate for Bose-Einstein condensates. He is co-investigator on the first Cold Atom Laboratory campaigns on the ISS.
Stanford University
Planetary scientist and member of the Voyager imaging team, who originated the "Day the Earth Smiled" image.
Space Science Institute
Planetary scientist and Deputy Principal Investigator of Lucy. She is Co-PI of the L’LORRI instrument on New Horizons.
Southwest Research Institute
Astrobiologist and pioneer in the search for life in extreme environments (Antarctica, Atacama). He is a scientific reference for the habitability of Mars and Enceladus, and a contributor to astrobiological strategies for Mars and missions to the ice giants.
NASA Ames Research Center
Planetary scientist and Project Scientist of ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, hunting methane and trace gases in the Martian atmosphere.
University of Oxford — Department of Physics
Planetary scientist and Principal Investigator of OSIRIS-APEX, the extension of OSIRIS-REx toward asteroid Apophis, reached in 2029.
University of Arizona — Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
Astrophysicist and Project Scientist of Solar Orbiter. He coordinates high-resolution latitudinal observations of the Sun.
European Space Agency (ESA)
Planetary scientist and PI of OSIRIS-REx / OSIRIS-APEX. He led the first asteroid sample returned to the United States (Bennu, 2023).
University of Arizona
Astrophysicist and pioneer in the detection of exoplanet transits and atmospheric characterization. He is a co-investigator on the TESS mission and JWST atmospheric programs.
Harvard University
Heliophysicist and Project Scientist of the Solar Dynamics Observatory, tracking the Sun’s activity continuously and forecasting its cycles.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Physicist and Project Scientist of the Voyager missions for over 50 years. He is a central figure in the exploration of the giant planets and the heliopause.
Caltech / Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Astrophysicist and Principal Investigator of the Pandora mission. She discovered Kepler-186f, the first Earth-size planet in a habitable zone.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Astrophysicist and Project Scientist of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. She coordinates the continuous gamma-ray sky survey and multi-messenger astronomy.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Physicist and Nobel co-laureate for the first Bose-Einstein condensates. He is co-principal investigator of the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) experiments on the ISS, a laboratory of ultracold atoms in microgravity.
University of Colorado Boulder / NIST
Astrophysicist and Principal Investigator of NuSTAR, the first telescope to focus hard X-rays to probe black holes and stellar remnants.
California Institute of Technology
Astrophysicist and Principal Investigator of the TESS mission. He designed the instrument that discovered thousands of exoplanet candidates around nearby stars.
MIT Kavli Institute
Planetary scientist and Principal Investigator of the Lucy mission to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids.
Southwest Research Institute
Astrophysicist and director of the Chandra X-ray Center (1991-2014). He led the development and operations of the most precise X-ray observatory ever launched.
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Planetary scientist specializing in ice giants. She led the Hubble study of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact and participates in JWST planetary observations.
AURA — Vice-présidente science
Emirati scientist and science lead of the Hope mission (EMM), the first Arab probe to study the Martian atmosphere.
UAE Space Agency — Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre
Astrophysicist and Principal Investigator of XRISM, the Japanese X-ray observatory measuring spectra of black holes and galactic hot gas.
ISAS / JAXA
Physicist and Principal Investigator of SPHEREx, the first space telescope to map the entire sky in 102 infrared colours.
California Institute of Technology / JPL
Astrophysicist and operational Project Scientist for JWST. She oversees calibration and the release of the telescope’s first scientific data.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Geochemist and astrobiologist, lead scientist for SAM on Perseverance. She detected diverse organic compounds in the sediments of Jezero crater.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Astrophysicist and Senior Project Scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope. She has coordinated the observatory’s scientific leadership since 2010.
NASA Goddard / American Association for the Advancement of Science
Chinese astrophysicist and Principal Investigator of SVOM, the French-Chinese mission dedicated to the most distant gamma-ray bursts.
Institut d’astronomie de l’Académie chinoise des sciences
Planetary scientist and Project Scientist of BepiColombo. He coordinates the science of the Mercury mission in partnership with ESA/JAXA.
European Space Agency (ESA)
Astrophysicist and Nobel laureate for measuring the CMB spectrum (COBE). He has served as Senior Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope since its inception.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Planetary scientist and astrobiologist, Co-Investigator of JUICE and Europa Clipper. He specializes in icy worlds and their internal habitability.
Cornell University
Astrophysicist and Project Scientist of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will map dark matter and dark energy in infrared.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Biologist and science manager, Chief Scientist of the ISS program (2007-2019). She led the opening of the laboratory to over 3,000 experiments, the National Lab, and international partners.
NASA Headquarters
Physicist and PI of the SWEAP instrument aboard Parker Solar Probe. He measures the solar wind in the corona closest to the Sun.
University of Michigan / BWX Technologies
Astrophysicist and Principal Investigator of NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), an X-ray telescope installed on the ISS in 2017 to probe ultra-dense matter in neutron stars and demonstrate pulsar-based navigation (SEXTANT).
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Geochemist and Project Scientist of Perseverance. He coordinates the selection of Martian samples cached for return to Earth.
Caltech
Space physicist and Chief Scientist of the ISS program. He advises NASA and the National Lab on orbital research priorities and the communication of scientific results.
NASA Johnson Space Center
Planetary scientist and Principal Investigator of the MMX mission, set to return the first samples from the Martian moon Phobos.
Université de Hokkaido
Planetary scientist and Project Scientist for the Voyager 1 and 2 missions since 2022. She also led the Cassini mission to Saturn.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Planetary scientist and Principal Investigator of the Psyche mission to the metallic asteroid of the same name.
Arizona State University
Chinese researcher and deputy chief designer of the Tianwen-2 mission, tasked with returning samples from asteroid 2016 HO3.
Observatoires astronomiques nationaux — CAS
Solar physicist and PI of the Fields Suite instrument on Solar Orbiter. He studies the solar wind, waves, and the magnetic connectivity between the corona and the heliosphere.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory / UCLA
Astrophysicist and Principal Investigator of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. He specializes in polarimetry and compact sources.
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Astrophysicist and Principal Investigator of MAXI (Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image) on the ISS. He scans the entire X-ray sky every 96 minutes to capture transients, X-ray binaries, and black hole candidates.
JAXA / RIKEN
Astrophysicist and discoverer of the TRAPPIST-1 system (seven Earth-sized planets). He is a co-investigator on JWST programs characterizing the atmospheres of these potentially habitable worlds.
University of Liège
Researcher and commander-in-chief of the space utilization system of China’s human spaceflight program. She organizes the science racks and over 1,000 experiments planned aboard Tiangong.
Chinese Academy of Sciences — CSU
Planetary scientist, DART mission coordination lead and Hera science team member. She leads the study of DART’s impact on Dimorphos.
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Astronomer nicknamed the "mother of Hubble" for her decisive role in conceiving and securing funding for the first great space telescope.
NASA — première Chief of Astronomy
Astrophysicist, former Kepler Mission Scientist (2011-2017) and key figure in the characterization of transiting exoplanets. She now coordinates exoplanet atmosphere observations with JWST.
University of California, Santa Cruz
Astrophysicist and XMM-Newton Project Scientist since 2003. He leads the European X-ray observatory studying black holes and active galaxies.
ESA — ESAC
Solar astrophysicist and Project Scientist of Parker Solar Probe. He leads the mission that touched the solar corona for the first time and revealed the dynamics of the solar wind in situ.
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Planetary scientist, Project Scientist of JUICE and former Project Scientist of Mars Express.
European Space Agency (ESA)
Aerospace engineer and Project Director of Chandrayaan-3. He led the successful landing at the lunar south pole and the Pragyan rover mission.
ISRO
Astrophysicist and Principal Investigator of the IXPE mission, dedicated to X-ray polarization to map black holes and pulsars.
INAF — Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali
Astrophysicist and director of the Chandra X-ray Center. He leads Chandra’s science operations and the dissemination of high-energy discoveries.
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Astronomer and Principal Investigator of ESA’s planetary-defence Hera mission, which will study the asteroid Dimorphos nudged by DART.
CNRS — Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur
Astrophysicist and Project Scientist for the Euclid mission. He leads the mapping of the dark universe through gravitational lensing and spectroscopy.
European Space Agency (ESA)
Father of X-ray astronomy and Nobel laureate. He co-proposed Chandra (AXAF) with Harvey Tananbaum and demonstrated that Cygnus X-1 is powered by a black hole.
Johns Hopkins University
Planetary scientist and Project Scientist of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. He has coordinated high-resolution imaging and Martian climatology since 2006.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Space physicist and Principal Investigator of ESCAPADE, twin small satellites that will study the escape of the Martian atmosphere.
University of California, Berkeley — SSL
Planetary geologist and Europa Clipper Project Scientist. He coordinates the science team that will search for a habitable ocean beneath the ice of Europa.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Astronomer and director of the STScI (1993-1998). He devoted a portion of his director’s discretionary time to the Hubble Deep Field, an iconic image of the distant universe.
Space Telescope Science Institute
Particle physicist and Nobel laureate. He is the Principal Investigator of the AMS-02 spectrometer installed on the ISS to track cosmic dark matter and antimatter.
MIT
Astronomer and pioneer in the formation and evolution of galaxies. She is a leading figure in Hubble observations of the mass-luminosity relation and cosmic assembly.
University of California, Santa Cruz / Lick Observatory
Solar astrophysicist and Principal Scientist of Aditya-L1. He heads ISRO’s space astronomy group and the SoLEXS X-ray payload to the L1 Lagrange point.
ISRO — UR Rao Satellite Centre
Astrophysicist and Principal Investigator of the APXS spectrometer aboard the Pragyan rover (Chandrayaan-3), used to analyze the elemental composition of the lunar soil.
Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad
Astrophysicist and pioneer in the characterization of exoplanet atmospheres. She is a co-investigator on JWST programs focused on biosignatures.
MIT
Planetary scientist and Principal Investigator of the Juno mission in orbit around Jupiter. He revealed the giant planet’s internal structure and complex magnetic field.
Southwest Research Institute
Engineer and project manager of the Hayabusa2 mission, which returned samples from asteroid Ryugu and continues toward 1998 KY26.
ISAS / JAXA
Physicist and Principal Investigator of CALET (Calorimetric Electron Telescope), a calorimetric telescope installed on the ISS Kibo module since 2015 to measure cosmic rays, high-energy electrons, and dark matter signatures.
Université Waseda
Planetary scientist and Principal Investigator of the twin Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity). Founding figure of modern geological exploration of Mars, direct legacy for the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers.
Cornell University
Physicist and Principal Investigator of ASIM (Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor) on the ISS. He studies lightning, blue jets, sprites, and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes from low Earth orbit.
DTU Space (Technical University of Denmark)
Astronomer specializing in the cosmic distance scale. She led the Hubble Key Project, which measured H₀ using Cepheids in nearby galaxies.
University of Chicago
Astrophysicist and Principal Investigator of Kepler. He opened the era of transit-based exoplanet demographics, the scientific foundation for TESS and future missions.
NASA Ames Research Center (retraité)
Astrophysicist and Principal Investigator of the CHEOPS mission, dedicated to very precise measurements of known exoplanets’ size.
Université de Berne
Physicist and Nobel co-laureate for Bose-Einstein condensates. He is Principal Investigator of Cold Atom Laboratory experiments on the ISS, pioneering ultracold quantum gases in microgravity.
MIT
Engineer and chief designer of the Chinese space station system (Tiangong). He developed the autonomous rendezvous and orbital transposition scheme for the 23-ton modules.
China Academy of Space Technology (CAST)
Chief engineer of the Chinese lunar and planetary program. He is the architect of the Chang’e and Tianwen-1 missions.
China Academy of Space Technology (CAST)
Astrophysicist and NICER deputy principal investigator, measuring the size of neutron stars from the International Space Station.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Chief engineer of Tianwen-1, China’s first interplanetary mission. He coordinated the orbiter, the Zhurong lander, and the Martian rover.
China National Space Administration (CNSA)
Chief engineer and scientific designer of China’s human spaceflight program. He is the architect of the Tiangong station and the Shenzhou vehicles.
China Manned Space Agency (CMSA)